Late an night I would remember the matches and visualize that in the ring it wasn’t my father but it was me doing the Back Body Drop, Flying Dropkick or the Spinning Toe Hold. I wanted to be like my father, Dory Funk Sr.

One day after a goose hunt on the Flying Mare Ranch Dad and I were walking along the terrace that collected water from his spread and caused it to flow into our small pond by the old windmill where cattle watered. I said to Dad, “I would like to become a professional wrestler.”

Dad said, “professional wrestling can give you a youthful, long and healthy life but before you join the Fraternity of Professional Wrestling there are some things you must accomplish. You can’t just ride on my name. You must make a name for yourself as an athlete first. There is one more requirement before you turn professional you must go to college.”

I took dad’s word to heart and began a weight training program at the age of 14 using stacked wooden Coke cases for a bench and a steel bar and trolley car wheels for weights. Dad had a wrestling mat in the garage and I got stretched by his wrestling friends Bob Geigel, Joe Scarpello, Verne Gagne and Ricki Star (Purdue University Amateur Wrestler) and of course my father, Dory Funk Sr.

I did have to earn my way into the wrestling business winning the West Texas AAU Wrestling Championship and playing football for West Texas University and winning the Sun Bowl against Ohio University. (That year we beat Ohio University and Bowling Green and considered ourselves the Un-Official Champions of the Mid-American Conference). For the record, we also beat arch rivals Texas Tech, New Mexico State and Arizona State.

For all my father, Dory Funk Sr. accomplished in professional wrestling there is precious little video of him speaking or wrestling on the internet. I only know of 1 wrestling match and one interview.

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